Roll clamp

ABSTRACT

A roll clamp which is used for moving paper rolls or other objects of various sizes from one place to another. The roll clamp, which can be rotated 360* in a vertical plane with respect to the truck to which it is attached, includes a rotatable frame, two clamp arms, a pin for attachment of the clamp arms to the rotatable frame, a first piston and cylinder assembly connected between the clamp arms for rotating the clamp arms with respect to each other about the pin, and a second piston and cylinder assembly connected to the rotatable frame and one of the clamp arms for simultaneous rotation of the clamp arms about the pin. The pin is located adjacent to the rotatable frame and is offset from the center line of rotation of the rotatable frame. The first piston and cylinder assembly is located within the open center of the rotatable frame, while the second assembly is located within the body of one of the clamp arms.

United States Patent 1191 Sinclair July 29, 1975 ROLL CLAMP [75] Inventor: Stuart Wallace Sinclair, Houston,

Tex.

[73] Assignee: Anderson, Clayton & Co., Houston,

Tex.

[22] Filed: May 8, 1974 [21] Appl. No.1 468,021

Primary Examiner-Albert J. Makay Assistant Examiner-George F. Abraham Attorney, Agent, or FirmFulbright & Jaworski [57] ABSTRACT A roll clamp which is used for moving paper rolls or other objects of various sizes from one place to another. The roll clamp, which can be rotated 360 in a vertical plane with respect to the truck to which it is attached, includes a rotatable frame, two clamp arms, a pin for attachment of the clamp arms to the rotatable frame, a first piston and cylinder assembly connected between the clamp arms for rotating the clamp arms with respect to each other about the pin, and a second piston and cylinder assembly connected to the rotatable frame and one of the clamp arms for simultaneous rotation of the clamp arms about the pin. The pin is located adjacent to the rotatable frame and is offset from the center line of rotation of the rotatable frame. The first piston and cylinder assembly is located within the open center of the rotatable frame, while the second assembly is located within the body of one of the clamp arms.

5 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures PATENTEI] JUL 2 9 I975 SHEET PATENTED JUL 2 91975 SHEET ROLL CLAMP BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Many types of roll clamps exist. The industry presently is using two basic types of clamps: (l) the sliding arm clamp and (2) the pivoted arm clamp. The sliding arm clamp is offered in three basic configurations: l equal length arms, (2) long and short arms and (3) short and swinging arms. The pivoted arm clamp normally is offered in the long-and-short-arms configuration. The present invention provides a roll clamp which avoids the need for the individual configurations while retaining the basic simplicity and other advantages of the individual configurations. Applicant presently is aware of existing patents in the field of art including U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,583,586 (Burton, 1971); 2,870,929 (Quayle, 1959); and 2,645,372 (Broersma, 1953).

SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION The apparatus system of the present invention generally provides means for lifting, manipulating, transporting and depositing a cylindrical load. The system, which is attached to a vehicular structure, includes a rotatable frame, with an open space, clamp arms, a pin for attaching the clamp arms to the rotatable frame, and at least two piston cylinder cylindrical assemblies-one connected between the clamp arms for rotating the clamp arms with respect to each other about the pin and the other connected to the rotatable frame and one of the clamp arms for simultaneous rotation of the clamp arms about the pin. The pin is located adjacent to the rotatable frame and is offset from the center line of rotation of the rotatable frame. The first piston and cylinder assembly is located within the open center space of the rotatable frames while the second assembly is located within the body of one of the clamp arms.

It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a roll clamp in which the pin for attaching the clamp arms to the rotatable frame is located adjacent to the rotatable frame and is offset from the centerline of rotation of the rotatable frame. This allows a roll which is centered on the rotatable frame to be grasped behind and ahead of a major diameter which is perpendicular to the plane which contains the centerline of rotation.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of a roll clamp in which the first piston and cylinder assembly is located within the open center space of the rotatable frame in order to reduce the overhang or overturn moment of the clamp.

A further object of the present invention is the provision of a roll clamp in which the second piston and cylinder assembly is located within one of the clamp arms to prevent its interference with any load which is being carried by the clamp.

Still other and further objects, features and advantages will be apparent from the following description of a presently preferred embodiment of the invention given for the purpose of disclosure and taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the drawings forming a part of the disclosure herein, like character references'designate like parts throughout the several views, wherein,

FIG. 1 is a sectional side view of the roll clamp in the equal-arm-length position,

FIG. 2 is a front plane view of the roll clamp,

FIG. 3 is a side view of the roll clamp in the long-andshort-arm position,

FIG. 4 is a side .view of the roll clamp in the shortand-swinging-arm position, and

FIG. 5 is a side view of the roll clamp showing a cylindrical roll being picked up from a vertical position.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Shown in FIG. 1 is the roll clamp device of the present invention as it may be used for equal-arm-length capabilities. The rotatable frame: 10 is connected to the basic carriage 12 by means of a circular device 13 which includes an inward section 14 connected to the basic carriage 12, an outward section 16 connected to therotatable frame 10, and a plurality of bearings 18 located between the inward section 14 and outward section 16. The rotatable frame 10 includes an open center portion 19. The basic carriage 12 may be attached by any ordinary form of attachment to a lift elevatorwhich, in turn, is attached to a truck or other suitablemeans of transportation.

Attached to the rotatable frame 10 by means of a pin 20 is a clamp which comprises a first clamp arm 22 and a second clamp arm 24, namely, the folding arm 22 and the bottom arm 24. The pin 20 is offset a short distance 25 from the axis of the rotatable frame 10. The offsetting of the pin 20 allows the clamp arms to pick up a roll which is centered on the axis of rotatable frame 10 while the clamp arms are in the long-and-short arm position of FIG. 3.

The folding arm 22 includes an extension 26 at the end of the folding arm 22 which is connected to and extends past the pin 20. Connected to the extension 26 and to. the body of the bottom arm 24 are one or more clamping cylinders 28. Attachment of the clamping cylinder 28 to the extension 26 of the folding arm 22 allows the clamping cylinder 28 to be placed within the open center portion 19 of the rotatable frame 10. Such positioning of the clamping cylinder 28 helps to reduce the overhang or overturn moment of the roll clamp. Additionally, this positioning of the clamping cylinder 28 prevents its interference with any load which is being carried by the clamp. The purpose of the clamping cylinder 28 is to rotate the clamp arms 22 and 24 with respect to each other about the pin 20.

One important advantage of the present invention is the location of the pivot pin 20 adjacent to the rotatable frame 10. In the prior art, the pivot pin has been located at greater distances from the rotatable frame. For example, in Burtons U.S. Pat. No. 3,583,586, the pivot pin is located at least one cylindrical diameter away from this turntable (rotator). The pivot pin of the present invention also is offset from the centerline of rotation of the rotatable frame 10. This allows a roll which is centered with respect to the rotatable frame 10 tobe grasped behind and ahead ofa major diameter 37 which is perpendicular to the plane which contains the centerline of rotation.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 5, one or more tilt cylinders 30 are located within the bottom arm 24. Such tilt cylinders 30 are connected to the rotatable frame 10 and the bottom arm 24. The purpose of the tilt cylinders 30 is to rotate both of the clamp arms 22 and 24 together and simultaneously about the pin 20. The location of the tilt cylinders 30 within and between the bottom arm 24 prevents their interference with any load which is being carried by the clamp. V

The rotatable frame is rotatable in' a vertical plane with respect to the basic carriage 12. The clamp arms 22 and 24, which are attached to the rotatableframe l0, rotate simultaneously about the centerline of the rotatable frame. Such rotation allows the clamp to pick up a roll which is in one position. e.g., a vertical position as shown in FIG. 5, rotate the roll to another position for manipulation and transportation, and deposit the roll in a third position, e.g., a horizontal position. The clamp is able to revolve 360.

The roll clamp may serve as an equal-arm-length clamp, a long-and-short-arm clamp or a short-andswinging-arm clamp. In the equal-arm-length capacity of FIG. 1, the pads 32 and 34 of the folding arm 22 and the bottom arm 24, respectively, arelocated in the same vertical plane. As shown in FIG. 3, the clamp arms 22 and 24 may be rotated so that the pad 32 of the folding arm 22 extends outward from the rotatable frame 10 beyond pad 34 of the bottom arm 24 by suitable actuation of pistons 28 and 30. This is the equivalent of the long-and-short-arm clamp. Such positioning of the clamp allows for T-loading, i.e., the horizontal loading of rolls above rolls which have been loaded vertically, in areas such as railroad boxcars and tunnelling, i.e., movement into and out of close spaces where there is a minimum amount of room to either side for the clamp arms to extend outward from the load. In the short-and-swinging-arm position, as shown in FIG. 4, the back portion 36 of the bottom arm 24 is parallel and adjacent to the rotatable frame 10 and the folding arm 22 is moved to accommodate the various sizes of loads.

A pivoted arm clamp, as used in the present invention, generally has an advantage over the sliding arm clamps in that its construction avoids the high stress concentration associated with the 90 change in direction from the slides to the arm of the sliding arm clamps. Even with generous fillets and attempts to maintain low stresses in sliding arm clamps, it is difficult to avoid the problem of fatigue failure at the point of change of direction. The gradual change of the curved pivoted arms makes them more rugged and reduces the problems of fatigue failures. Pivoted arms also are more efficient in converting cylindrical force into a squeeze force on the roll.

On the end of each clamp arm 22 and 24 which is not connected to the pin 20 is a clamping mechanism 38 which is pivotally secured to the particular clamp arm by means of a pin 40. The roll is held between the clamping mechanisms 38 which contain pads 32 and 34 to protect the roll.

Although the forces for rotating the rotatable frame 10 and driving the clamping cylinders 28 and tilt cylinders 30 have not been specifically described, they may be provided by any acceptable means.

In use, the roll clamp provides a clamp 21 which may approximate the various configurations of sliding arm and pivoted arm clamps. Such is accomplished by maneuvering the arms 22 and 24 of the roll clamp to the various positions by suitable actuation of the clamping cylinder 28 and tilt cylinder 30. Therefore, in the equal-arm-length position as shown in FIG. 1, the arms 22 and 24 of the roll clamp are positioned by actuation of the cylinders 28 and 30 so that they extend an equal:

distance from the rotatable frame 10. The useof such position is particularly beneficial when the rolls are positioned vertically as no other position of arms 22 and 24 can do as much with vertical rolls. lf operations such as T'loading and tunnelling are to be performed, the arms 22 and 24 of the roll clamp may be positioned by actuation of cylinders 28 and 30 so that the folding arm 22 extends outward from the rotatable frame 10 beyond the bottom arm 24. In such position, the roll clamp approximates a long-and-short-arm clamp. Finally, the bottom arm 24 of the roll clamp may be positioned by actuation of the cylinders 28 and 30 so that its back portion is adjacent to the rotatable frame 10. In this position, which approximates the short-andswinging-arm clamp, the folding arm 22 is adjusted to accommodate the various sizes of loads. The short-andswinging-arm clamp is normally used to pick up butt rolls, i.e., rolls of small diameters.

In any of the above-mentioned positions, the clamp 21 may be rotated in a vertical plane by rotation of the rotatable cylinder 10. Therefore, the clamp 21 may pick up a roll which is located in one position, rotate the roll to another position for manipulation and transportation and deposit the roll in a third position.

The present invention, therefore, is well adapted to carry out the objects and attain the ends and advantages mentioned as well as others therein. While a presently preferred embodiment of the invention has been given for the purpose of disclosure, numerous changes in the detail of construction and the combination, shape, size and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and the scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed.

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus for use on a lift truck elevator, which is attached to a truck or other suitable means of transportation, to liftand manipulate a cylindrical load comprising: v

a. a rotating frame,

b. a first clamp arm,

c. a second clamp arm,

(I. a pin for attaching the clamp arms to the rotating frame and about which the clamp arms are rotatable, where the pin is located adjacent to, and less than the diameter of one cylindrical load from, the rotating frame and is offset from the centerline of rotation of the rotating frame,

e. a first piston and cylinder assembly connected between the clamp arms for rotating the clamp arms with respect to each other about the pin, and

f. a second piston and cylinder assembly connected to the rotating frame and one of the clamp arms for simultaneous rotation of the clamp arms about the pin.

2. The invention of claim 1 wherein the rotating frame includes an open center space and the first piston and cylinder assembly is located within the open center space in order to reduce the overhang or overturn moment of the assembly.

3. The invention of claim I wherein the second piston and cylinder assembly is located within the clamp arm to prevent its interference with any load which is being carried by the clamp.

4. The invention of claim I wherein the first clamp arm includes an extension which extends past the pin and which is connected to the first piston and cylinder assembly.

5. An apparatus for use on a lift elevator, which is atcated within the open center space of the rotating tached to a truck or other suitable means of transportaframe in order to reduce the overhang or overturn tion. to lift and manipulate a cylindrical load comprismoment of the assembly and which is connected to ing: the extension of the first clamp arm and to the seea. a rotating frame, which includes an open center space,

b. a first clamp arm which includes an extension.

c. a second clamp arm,

d. a pin for attaching the clamp arms to the rotating frame and about which the clamp arms are rotatable, where the pin is located adjacent to the rotating frame and is offset from the center line of rotation of the rotating frame,

e. a first piston and cylinder assembly which is lo- 0nd clamp arm for rotating the clamp arms with respect to each other about the pin, and

f. a second piston and cylinder assembly which is connected to the rotating frame and one of the clamp arms for simultaneous rotation of the clamp arms about the pin and which is located within the clamp arm to which it is attached to prevent its interference with any load which is being carried by the clamp. 

1. An apparatus for use on a lift truck elevator, which is attached to a truck or other suitable means of transportation, to lift and manipulate a cylindrical load comprising: a. a rotating frame, b. a first clamp arm, c. a second clamp arm, d. a pin for attaching the clamp arms to the rotating frame and about which the clamp arms are rotatable, where the pin is located adjacent to, and less than the diameter of one cylindrical load from, the rotating frame and is offset from the centerline of rotation of the rotating frame, e. a first piston and cylinder assembly connected between the clamp arms for rotating the clamp arms with respect to each other about the pin, and f. a second piston and cylinder assembly connected to the rotating frame and one of the clamp arms for simultaneous rotation of the clamp arms about the pin.
 2. The invention of claim 1 wherein the rotating frame includes an open center space and the first piston and cylinder assembly is located within the open center space in order to reduce the overhang or overturn moment of the assembly.
 3. The invention of claim 1 wherein the second piston and cylinder assembly is located within the clamp arm to prevent its interference with any load which is being carried by the clamp.
 4. The invention of claim 1 wherein the first clamp arm includes an extension which extends past the pin and which is connected to the first piston and cylinder assembly.
 5. An apparatus for use on a lift elevator, which is attached to a truck or other suitable means of transportation, to lift and manipulate a cylindrical load comprising: a. a rotating frame, which includes an open center space, b. a first clamp arm which includes an extension, c. a second clamp arm, d. a pin for attaching the clamp arms to the rotating frame and about which the clamp arms are rotatable, where the pin is located adjacent to the rotating frame and is offset from the center line of rotation of the rotating frame, e. a first piston and cylinder assembly which is located within the open center space of the rotating frame in order to reduce the overhang or overturn moment of the assembly and which is connected to the extension of the first clamp arm and to the second clamp arm for rotating the clamp arms with respect to each other about the pin, and f. a second piston and cylinder assembly which is connected to the rotating frame and one of the clamp arms for simultaneous rotation of the clamp arms about the pin and which is located within the clamp arm to which it is attached to prevent its interference with any load which is being carried by the clamp. 